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Apache trout recovery begins at a Payson fish hatchery as managers help threatened species thrive

PAYSON — Between sips of coffee, Bryce Sisson makes his way out of the office to work under the dim light and constant din of rushing water, in a space he shares withthousands of recently hatched Apache trout.

Sisson manages the Arizona Game and Fish Department's Tonto Creek Hatchery in the pines northeast of Payson. He spends his days in a short metal building surrounded by 19 tanks of fish, plus more outside, growing them to fishable size, searching for solutions to a low survival rate and hoping the upcoming fire season doesn't force them all to evacuate.

The Apache trout is Arizona's state fish, though it also carries significance for other threatened and endangered species of fish. It was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1975, a rare downgrade from its previous status as endangered, and has sparked hope that it could be the first fish entirely removed from the list without going extinct.

Because the trout are still listed as threatened, he said, it's important to be meticulous in caring for them.

"They're really susceptible to stress, so we try to handle them the least amount possible," Sisson said. "They're more difficult to raise because they're more wild."

Apache trout and Gila trout, also listed as threatened, are the only two species of trout native to Arizona.

The Apache trout only have about a 50 percent survival rate, Sisson said, so he's looking for ways to keep more of them alive.

The hatchery uses probiotic-enhanced feed that comes at three times the cost of regular feed, shades to reduce the light hitting the fish tanks and water temperatures that are more comfortable for the easily stressed fish.

Last year, the fish had a 75-percent survival rate and Sisson suspects it might be tied to the probiotic feed. Wildlife managers are studying whether there are key phases in the trout's life when it needs the probiotic-laden feed, so the agency doesn't have to continuously use it, he said.

"It's just unfortunate that it costs that much," Sisson said. "Because it kind of limits how much we can do."

From the hatchery to the water

Apache trout are only found in streams and lakes in the White Mountains, which span White Mountain Apache tribal lands and wide areas managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

Sisson's work revolves around the eggs he received in January at the Tonto facility. Come October, trout in Payson will be shipped to the Silver Creek Hatchery in Show Low and should be about four or five inches long by then, Sisson said.

It can take the trout a year and a half to reach their full size, about 10 inches long. They're usually close, if not full-sized, by the time they're stocked in various streams and lakes, spanning state and White Mountain Apache waters.

"If we get a lot of snowpack, then the water temperature will drop down to 44, 45 degrees," he said. "That decrease in water temperature slows down their development a little bit. This year, we haven’t had any snow so they should grow fairly well."

A 1979 recovery plan

Apache trout live in the West Fork of the Black River.(Photo: Mare Czinar/Special for The Republic)

Although the Apache trout is threatened, its outlook was once more grim.

As an endangered fish, the species could've faced extinction. Eroding habitat and increased competition from other species led to the Apache trout's downfall, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recovery plan first approved in 1979.

"It’s important to do our job to help propagate the species," Sisson said. "It was our stocking of rainbow trout and brown trout that put the species in peril."

A comfortable environment is crucial for the fish's survival, even in east-central Arizona, where they typically thrive.

They do best in water around 77 degrees, according to the recovery plan, and ample amounts of shade can keep the water's temperature from becoming "lethal."

The trout evolved in streams mostly higher than 6,000 feet elevation in mixed confier and ponderosa pine forests, the plan says. The plan was updated in 1983 and laid out a few specific guidelines for recovery:

Survey and assess the genetic purity of existing populations while protecting those populations.

Disease delayed stocking

Apache trout weren't stocked last year because federal hatcheries tested positive for bacterial kidney disease — a disease so difficult to manage that officials say the most effective way to combat it is preventing it altogether.

Joe Marcino, a Game and Fish Department fish pathologist, said fish that tested positive had to be killed, so they wouldn't spread the pathogen in the wild.

The disease can be difficult to detect and tough to treat, he said. There aren't many antibiotics available to fight the disease and the drug of choice is not yet cleared for use, he said.

"The big issue is not really having a way to treat them effectively," he said.

Could this fire season hurt the trout?

Sisson, in his "Native Apache Trout" trucker hat, works out of the hatchery in the forest, though the current dry winter stokes the fear that the high country could be a giant tinder box.

Stockings are slated to start in May, but fires could break out sooner, given current conditions. Gov. Doug Ducey in February announced he was requesting double the funding for wildfire prevention and State Forester Jeff Whitney said officials have already fought small fires in January and February.

Sisson and his staff are prepared to pack up and evacuate, should fire break out.

"This last year we had the Highline Fire that got fairly close to the hatchery. We actually removed all the fish," he said. "I'm sure by May or June, the forest is going to be a tinder box. Whether it's lightning strikes or an unattended campfire or a cigarette butt — with the number of people that come up here, it's a pretty big threat."

If fire threatens the hatchery, it could send the fish to other hatcheries and force managers to stock them early. And if fire moves in, it won't be Sisson's first brush with it.

"The whole reason I'm at Tonto Hatchery is I was manager at Sterling Springs Hatchery in Oak Creek Canyon," he said. "When the Slide Fire burned through there, they shut down the hatchery because of the flood risk."

The Arizona Game and Fish Department's Community Fishing Program aims to provide access to stocked lakes and ponds throughout the state. All that is required to participate is some sort of valid fishing license.
Weldon B. Johnson/azcentral.com